Yesterday, Ripple announced it plans to launch a US dollar stablecoin on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum blockchain. It will be a high quality stablecoin backed by short term Treasuries, cash and equivalents. This makes tremendous sense for Ripple as a company. For investors in XRP, it could be neutral to negative, with the reasonably stable XRP reinforcing that perspective.
Ripple has cash and, apart from XRP, has yet to produce a money machine. Hence, its expansion beyond using XRP as a bridging currency for cross-border payments has continued apace. In the last couple of years, it has launched a CBDC consultancy, acquired Metaco, the bank digital asset custody technology firm, and more recently, acquired Standard Custody & Trust.
The acquisition of Standard Custody & Trust with its New York Trust charter likely met a couple of objectives. If real world assets (RWAs) are to take off, they require custody. In some cases, trust companies will need to lock and hold the digital twin. Stablecoins are really the first type of real world asset to take off at scale. Standard Trust can act as a trustee for the stablecoin reserves.
Article continues …
Want the full story? Pro subscribers get complete articles, exclusive industry analysis, and early access to legislative updates that keep you ahead of the competition. Join the professionals who are choosing deeper insights over surface level news.
